Soil treatment compositions comprising polymer salt, petroleum oil and carboxylic acid salt



SOIL TREATMENT COMPOSITIONS COMPRESING POLYMER SALT, PETROLEUM OIL ANDCAR- BOXYLIC ACID SALT John H. Glenn, Torrance, and George M. Brown, LosAngeles, Calif., assiguors to Brown Mud Company, Torrance, Califi, acorporation of California No Drawing. Original application Jan. 13,1958, Ser. No. 708,386, new Patent No. 3,124,934, dated Mar. 7, 1964.Divided and this application Aug. 12, 1963, Ser. No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 260-23) This is a division of US. patent applicationSerial No. 708,386, filed January 13, 1958, now Patent No. 3,124,- 934issued March 7, 1964.

This invention relates to soil treatment and more particularly to acomposition of matter for treating a waterway, e.g. canal, lake,reservoir, irrigation ditch, for the purpose of rendering the soil bedof the waterway less permeable to water.

The invention is of especial economic consequence when applied to canalsand irrigation ditches in arid areas. In California, for example, canalswhich are miles long are employed to convey irrigation water. It iseconomically prohibitive to line the walls of these canals as withconcrete or asphalt compositions; yet, if no steps are taken tosubstantially reduce seepage of water through the soil beds of unlinedcanals and of irrigation ditches, the loss of Water becomes so great asto amount to wantonness when in areas where water conservation practicesof necessity must be observed.

Attempts have been made to conserve water in irrigation canals bytreating the canal bed with bentonitic materials, but it turns out thatthe use of such materials is unsatisfactory for several significantreasons. The use of solid material of bentonitic nature involves adificult mixing procedure as these materials absorb water with theformation of large lumps of dry material. The lumps are sticky and arehard to break up. Heavy and expensive equipment and machinery are neededto handle bentonite. To employ bentonitic material it is usuallynecessary to use chemical dispersants, but dispersant materials causethe bentonitic particles to hydrate and swell before entry into theporous soil or sand. The hydrating and resulting swelling properties ofbentonitic particles are destroyed by the presence of calcium andmagnesium salts which are usually present in irrigation waters with theresult that the bentonitic particles become ineffective for sealingpurposes. To use bentonitic materials normal operation of the waterwaymust usually be suspended during the treatment and in some cases thewaterway must be drained in order to effect substantial reduction inwater permeability of the water bed with the use of bentonite.

Other attempts to seal the soil beds of unlined waterways have been madeusing polyacrylates; however, it was found that the calcium andmagnesium ions present in natural waters combined with the polyacrylateto form water insoluble fiocs which did not penetrate the silt and soilof the bed of the waterways and hence did not provide a satisfactoryseal.

We have found that the soil beds of waterways may be renderedsubstantially impermeable to water with the use of a water-in-oilemulsion formed by the addition of an emulsifier, hereinafter more fullydescribed, to petroleum hydrocarbon oil and water. The emulsion being aliquid, no special equipment or machinery is needed to treat the bed ofthe waterway according to this invention. The emulsion disperses readilyand is sufficiently stable in the presence of calcium and magnesiumsalts to allow the components thereof to penetrate into the soil withoutchange or reaction. The waterway may be treated with the emulsion duringnormal operation of the waterway. Furthermore, by this invention, thesoil bed of a waterway acquires a high degree of resistance to streamerosion.

In treating a canal or irrigation ditch according to the method of thisinvention, the aforesaid emulsion may be added to the water of thewaterway at a rate of at least about parts by weight of the emulsion toone million parts of water for a treating period of about two days time.Of course, where the treating period is extended the concentration maybe lowered generally proportionally. When new canals, irrigationditches, ponds or other waterways are dug and before they are opened tothe flow of water, the emulsion may be spread on the surface of the bedof the waterway at a rate of at least about 0.005 pound of emulsion persquare foot of soil, and if desired, the bed may be tilled. Such amountrepresents the equivalent of treatment by adding the emulsion to theWater of the waterway in the concentration mentioned above. Ponds, lakesand reservoirs may be treated by spraying the emulsion of this inventionon the surface of the water.

The water-in-oil emulsion of this invention may be formed by mixing theemulsifier in petroleum hydrocarbon oil and then neutralizing themixture by the addition thereto of a water solution of an alkaline agentsuch as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide,sodium carbonate, sodium silicate, etc. The water-inoil emulsion soformed may be stabilized by the addition thereto of an electrolyte suchas sodium chloride.

The liquid petroleum hydrocarbon oil mentioned above is preferably a lowviscosity light colored highly refined oil having a gravity of 40 A.P.I.or less, and that will not be toxic to plant life, such as a sprayingoil sanctioned by State or regional agricultural departments, ora goodgrade of kerosene, diesel fuel, or lube stock.

One group of chemicals that may be employed, according to thisinvention, as the emulsifier, is the fatty acids having a chain lengthof from 16 to 18 carbon atoms and preferably with at least oneunsaturated or double bond in the chain. Another emulsifier is rosinacid, i.e. commercial abietic acid. An economical product which may beused as the emulsifier is tall oil, i.e. the acidified skimmings ofwasteblack liquor from the sulfate wood pulp digestion skimmings of papermaking. Such tall oil comprises linoleic and oleic acids. Theseemulsifying chemicals are soluble in the petroleum hydrocarbon oils, andcan be neutralized in the petroleum hydrocarbon oil by the addition tothe mixture of an aqueous solution of an alkaline agent. Suchneutralization is carried out until a five to one dilution of theemulsion in distilled water (five volumes of water to one volume ofemulsion) has a pH of from about 9 to 10.5, the optimum pH being about9.7.

A water-in-oil emulsion proving especially advantageous according tothis invention may be produced by mixing 7 to 8 parts by weight of thefatty or the rosin acid with 84 to 87 parts by weight of the petroleumhydrocarbon oil, "and then neutralizing the mixture by the addition of0.8 to 0.9 part by weight of sodium hydroxide in 6 to 7 parts by weightof water. When thus formed, the emulsion may thereafter be stabilized bythe addition of 0.1 to 0.6 part by weight of sodium chloride. When theemulsion is diluted times with distilled water, it should have a pH offrom 9.0 to 10.5.

Our explanation for the sealing effect produced by this invention is asfollows: The organic alkali metal or ammonium salts formed in thepetroleum hydrocarbon oil by neutralization are resistant to reactionwith calcium and magnesium ions when the emulsion is added to hardwater. This unique characteristic of such salts makes it possible thatthey be carried by the water of a waterway into the soil bed of thewaterway before they are reacted upon by the calcium and magnesium ions.The salts are surface active, and as they are carried into the soil bedby seepage of the water in the waterway, they adhere to the sand andsilt particles of the bed where they may then react with the calcium andmagnesium ions in the water to form insoluble calcium and magnesiumsalts which absorb water and thus fill the spaces between sand particlesin the bed of the waterway. Sufficient calcium and magnesium ions arenormally present in natural waters and soils to replace the sodium inthe organic salts to complete the reaction in a period of several days.

We have found further, according to this invention, that hydrocarbonpolymers or copolymers, e.g. sodium polyacrylate in a water solution maybe mixed with the waterin-oil emulsion described above to form a stableoil-inwater emulsion which is capable of infinite dilution in hard waterwithout immediate reaction with calcium or magnesium ions, i.e. both thepolymer salts and the salts of the water-in-oil emulsion are retarded intheir reaction with calcium and magnesium ions. This permits the polymersalts to be carried by the water of the waterway into the soil bed sothat sealing occurs in the soil and not merely on the surface thereofwhere it would be subject to erosion with consequent loss of seal.

The polymers or copolymers employed in accordance with this inventionare those referred to in U.S. Patent No. 2,718,497, as being any linearhydrocarbon chain polymer or copolymer of relatively high molecularweight in which hydrophilic acid or acid-forming groups are present inamounts corresponding to one such 'hydrophilic group for each 2 to 3carbon atoms of the linear hydrocarbon chain so that a hydrolyzedproduct containing one carboxylic acid salt group for each 2 to 6 linearchain carbon atoms can be obtained by hydrolyzing at least 50% of theacid-forming groups to carboxyls, and further as a linear hydrocarbonchain polymer having a molecular weight greater than 10,000 andcontaining carboxylic :acid salt groups selected from the groupconsisting of the alkali metal and ammonium salts in a ratio of onecarboxylic salt group to each two to six linear chain carbon atoms.Preferred polymers are the polymerized salts of the acrylic acids, anexample of which is sodium polyacrylate. As mentioned above, attemptshave been made to use such polymers or copolymers as ionic sealers forwaterways, but it was found that they immediately precipitated out fromthe water. By this invention, however, a protective colloid is providedfor the polymers, the colloid serving to prevent immediate flocculation.

To form the oil-in-water emulsion of this invention, which includes theaforesaid polymers, the fatty or rosin acid-petroleum hydrocarbon oilemulsion referred to above may be added to a water solution of thepolymer to form a stable oil-in-water emulsion. The concentration of thepolymer-water solution is preferably not greater than 3 parts by weightof polymer to 100 parts by Weight of water. Solutions of higherconcentrations are too thick for easy mixing. When such polymer solutionis mixed with the emulsion in the ratio of about 7 parts by weight ofemulsion to 8 parts by weight of the solution, the resultingoil-in-water emulsion will contain 38 to 40 parts by weight of liquidpetroleum hydrocarbon oil, 3 to 5 parts by weight of fatty and/or rosinacids, 0.3 to 0.5 part by weight of alkaline agent, 0.3 to 1.7 parts byweight of the polymers, 0.05 to 0.3 part by weight of an emulsionstabilizing electrolyte and 48 to 60 parts by weight of water. Thewater-in-oil emulsion should be added to the polymer- Water solution toprevent the formation of a thick gelatinous mass, especially whererelatively higher concentrations of the polymer solution than thosementioned above are used, and the polymer solution should preferably beat least about equal to the amount of the emulsion so that waterconstitutes the continuous phase of the mixture throughout the mixingprocess and infinite dilution is made possible in the water of thewaterway.

We have produced commercially usable quantities of the oil-in-wateremulsion according to the following continuous manufacturing process:Crude tall oil, at the rate of 435 lbs. per hour, and petroleum oil,atthe rate of 5,000 lbs. per hour, are mixed together in a blender. Fromthe blender the tall oil-petroleum oil mixture is passed into aneutralizer to which 20% caustic is added at the rate of 219 lbs. perhour. The liquids in the neutralizer are subject to continuous andvigorous agitation to prevent formation of curds. The water-in-oilemulsion formed in the ne-utralizer is passed into another blender whereit is mixed with a polymer in water solution. Such polymer in watersolution is for-med by dissolving commercial sodium polyacrylate(identified commercially as KH-3) at the rate of lbs. per hour in watersupplied to the dissolver at the rate of 6620 lbs. per hour. Theresulting oil-in-water emulsion is produced at the rate of 12,404 lbs.per hour.

For the purpose of illustrating the sealing effect produced fromapplication of the above described emulsions to soils, the followingspecific examples of the practice of this invention are set forth.

Example 1 A water-in-oil emulsion was prepared by mixing the following:7.87 grams of tall oil, 0.90 gram of sodium hydroxide, 87.46 grams ofdiesel oil, 3.64 grams of water, and 0.15 gram of sodium chloride. Theemulsion was then mixed with water, having a hardness of 5 0 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate, sufficient water being used toprovide a suspension having a concentration of 5600 parts by weight ofthe emulsion per million parts by weight of the water.

A core of soil to be subjected to treatment was formed by tamping a soilspecimen into a cylinder, enough soil being present to provide a soilcore four inches in height. The core was allowed to stand with a head of54 inches of water over it. Water passing through the core was collectedand measured and found to represent a seepage loss rate of 2.83 cubicfeet of water per square foot of soil per day (hereinafter referred toas c.f.d.).

After measuring the seepage loss rate of the soil specimen, the core wassubjected to treatment with the above specified suspension by replacingthe water above the core with said suspension. The core in contact withthe suspension was allowed to stand for forty-five hours at the end ofwhich time treatment was terminated by displacing the suspension withclear hard water. It was determined that 0.12 pound of the water-in-oilemulsion per square lfOOt of the core surface had entered the core.

Measurements were then made to determine the seepage loss rates over aperiod of two weeks. Within twenty-four hours after the treatment wasremoved, the seepage loss rate had decreased to 0.15 c.f.d. representinga decrease of 94.7% in loss rate. The seepage loss rate decreased to aminimum of 0.11 c.f.d., i.e. a decrease of 96.2%.

Example 2 A soil core having a seepage loss rate of 5.09 c.f.d. Wastreated with a suspension of 5600 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of 50 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate. The oil-in-water emulsionconsisted of 3.61 grams of fatty and rosin acids, 40.18 grams of dieseloil, 0.42 grams of sodium hydroxide, 55.26 grams of water, and 0.54grams of commerical sodium polyacrylate (identified commercially asKH-3). Said fatty and rosin acids combined consisted of a mixture of thefollowing: 42% by weight of abietic acid, 24.5% oleic acid, 23% linoleicacid, 6% palmitic acid, 0.5% linolenic acid, and 2% unsaponifiables. Thesuspension was left in contact with the core for eight hours before itwas replaced with the hard water. During this time, 0.05 pounds of theemulsion per square foot of the core surface entered the core. Withinforty-two hours after the treatment was removed, the seepage loss ratehad decreased to 0.18 c.f.d., or a decrease of 94.5%. The seepage lossrate of the core was observed daily for three weeks, and a minimum lossrate of 0.068 c.f.d. was observed. This amounted to a 98.8% reduction inloss rate.

Example 3 A soil core having a seep-age loss rate of 8.05 c.f.d. wastreated with a suspension of 1100 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of grains per gallonexpressed as calcium carbonate. This oil-in-water emulsion consisted of2.94 grams of oleic acid, 40.40 grams of diesel oil, 0.44 grams ofsodium hydroxide,.55.62 grams of water, and 0.54 grams of a commercialsodium polyacrylate. The suspension was left in contact With the corefor twenty-four hours before being replaced with the original clearwater. The seepage loss rate decreased steadily to 0.34 c.f.d., areduction of 95.8%.

Example 4 A soil core having a seepage loss rate of 8.30 c.f.d. wastreated with a suspension of 1100 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of 10 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate. This oil-in-water emulsion wascomprised of 3.33 grams of commercial grade abietic acid, 40.13

grams of diesel oil, 0.49 grams of sodium hydroxide, 0.54 grams ofcommercial sodium polyacrylate and 55.52 grams of water. The suspensionwas left in contact with the core for twenty-four hours before beingreplaced with the original clear water. The seepage loss rate decreasedsteadily to 0.54 c.f.d., a reduction of 93.5%.

Example 5 A soil core having a seepage loss rate of 4.05 c.f.d. wastreated with a suspension of 1100 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of 10 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate. This oil-inwater emulsion wascomprised of 3.49 grams of commercial grade of linoleic acid (48%),40.21 grams of diesel oil, 0.43 grams of sodium hydroxide, 0.54 grams ofcommercial sodium polyacrylate and 55.36 grams of water. The suspensionwas left in contact with the core for twenty-four hours before beingreplaced with the original clear water. The seepage loss rate decreasedsteadily to 0.31 c.f.d., a reduction of 92.1%.

Example 6 A soil core having a seepage loss rate of 5.93 c.f.d. wastreated with a suspension of 1100 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of 10 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate. This oil-in-water emulsion wascomprised of 3.52 grams of tall oil, 40.62 grams of diesel oil, 1.15grams of concentrated ammonium hydroxide, 0.54 grams of commercialsodium polyacrylate and 54.16 grams of water. The suspension was left incontact with the core for twenty-four hours before being replaced withclear water. The seepage loss rate decreased steadily to 0.57 c.f.d., areduction of 90.4%.

Example 7 A soil core having a seepage loss rate of 41.76 c.f.d. wastreated with a suspension of 2500 parts by weight of an oil-in-wateremulsion per million parts of water with a hardness of 50 grains pergallon expressed as calcium carbonate. The emulsion was formed of 3.55grams of tall oil, 40.12 grams of kerosene, 0.45 grams of sodiumhydroxide, 0.54 grams of commercial sodium polyacrylate, 0.13 grams ofsodium chloride, and 55.20 grams of water. The suspension was left incontact with the core for twenty-four hours before being replaced withclear water. The seepage loss rate decreased to 0.06 c.f.d.,representing a reduction of 99.9%.

Example 8 A section of actual canal bottom was isolated by driving a 42inch diameter casing two feet into the bottom of the canal. The seepageloss rate of this isolated section was measured by noting the amount ofwater necessary to maintain a constant level inside the casing. Thissection was then treated with an oil-in-water emulsion which consistedof 3.59 grams of tail oil, 0.43 grams of caustic soda, 39.97 grams ofdiesel oil, 1.06 grams of a commercial sodium p-olyacrylate, and 54.94grams of water. The amounts of materials used and results obtained areshown in the table which follows Example 10. After a satisfactory sealwas obtained, the soil bottom of the canal inside the casing was stirredup and punctured with a pole to a depth of about 3 to 6 inches and awater jet from a pump was used toerode the surface of the bottom. Theseepage loss rate increased temporarily and then slowed down after theagitation, indicating that any holes which may have been made in theseal became plugged.

Example 9 The test of Example 8 was repeated with a differentconcentration of the oil-in-water emulsion, and similar results wereobtained. In this example the soil bottom was disturbed by means of awater jet only. The results of this test are shown in the tablefollowing Example 10.

Example 10 The test of Example 8 was repeated except for the agitationso that control test data for Examples 8 and 9 Was available.

Example 8 Example 9 Example 10 Area of easing. sq. ft 9.85 9.85 9. Depthof water in easing, inches. 54 57 52. 5 Loss rate before treatment,c.f.d. 1. 31 1. 17 0.81 P arts by weight of emulsion per million partsof water 1000 750 1000 Length of treatment, hoursnn. 24 22. 5 19 Treatedwater penetration, cu.

ft. per sq. ft.- 0.73 0. 64 0. 37 Depth of penetrn n (35% porosity), It2. 1 1. 8 1. 1 Amount of chemical treatment lbs. of suspension per sq.It 0. 046 0.030 0.023 Loss rate at end of treatment,

c.f.d 0.61 0. 53 O. 46 Loss rate 16 hours after treat ment, c.t".d 0.240.18 0.29 Reduction in loss rate, pereent 87 85 64 Method of erosion (0Loss rate immediately after erosion test, e.i.d 1.05 0.28 0. 28 Lossrate 4 days after erosion test, c.f.d 0. 43 0. 18 0.22

1 Pole & pump jet. 3 None-control.

2 Pump jet.

Example 11 A full scale application of the emulsion material used forExamples 8, 9 and 10 was made in an 8.05 m le section of the CoachellaCanal, Imperial County, California. This canal has a wetted perimeter of80 feet, fro-m which the area of soil treatment was calculated to be3,400,000 square feet. The rate of loss as determined by inflowoutflowmeasurements varied from 0.7 to 2.4 c.f.d. with the flow varying from311 to 1100 cubic feet per second. The oil-in-water emulsion was addedto the water at the head of the section while the water was flowing at arate of 440 cubic feet per second. A total of 306,620 pounds of theoil-in-water emulsion was used, representing a calculated addition atthe rate of 391 parts per million parts of water by weight. The materialwas added over a period of ten hours, and was then allowed to remain incontact with the bottom and sides of the canal for another forty hoursby damming up the ends of the section. A water level recorder had beenplaced in a well adjacent to the canal prior to treatment. The waterlevel in the well before treatment was the same as in the canal, thusshowing a high seepage rate through the walls of the canal into thewell. After treatment the recorder indicated a :steady decline in thewater level in the well and after six days the water level in the wellwas twelve inches below the water level in the canal thus showing thatthe seepage from the canal was substantially reduced. The finalinflow-outflow measurements are not yet available, but presentinformation indicates that a satisfactory seal devel- \oped.

Example 12 A potato field having irrigation ditches or furrows formedtherein between rows of potato plants was treated in an area of threeadjacent furrows, according to this invention. Such treatment consistedof adding an oil-in- =water emulsion of the composition used in Example*8 to the water being supplied to the furrows to give a concentration of1000 parts by weight of emulsion per million parts of water, asspecified in Example 8. Inspections in the field were made over a periodof five weeks following .treatment, throughout the first half of whichperiod the entire field was irrigated with untreated water every otherday and sometimes with water containing fertilizer. .After theirrigation period, the field was allowed to dry up for harvestingpurposes. It was noted about three "weeks after the time of treatmentthat the plants in the :treated area were more vigorous and greener thanthose .in the untreated area, thereby showing that the materials used inthe treatment were not toxic to the plants, and that the fertilizerwhich had been added to the irrigation water was not leached out fromthe soil away from the :roots of the plants. Following the end of theirrigation period, it was noted that the soil in the untreated areadried up in about four days, whereas in the treated area .the soilremained moist to a depth varying to about one :foot and continued to bemoist, though gradually drying ".up to the time of harvest. At harvesttime the soil in the treated area was less compact and was easy to breakup, whereas in the untreated area the soil was hard and dry andcontained a noticeable amount of large clods which hindered the diggingoperations. Then, too, it was apparent that the potatoes from thetreated area were denser than those harvested from the untreated area.

Example 13 A lawn planted in sandy soil was treated with the oilin-wateremulsion which had been produced commercially and used in Example 8above. Before treatment, daily watering was necessary to keep the lawnalive, and the leaching Out of fertilizers by the constant watering madethe fertilizers ineffective. A commercial fertilizer was spread on thelawn, and one quart of the oil-in-water emulsion was applied to each 300square feet area of lawn using a commercially available garden sprayerapplied to the end of a garden hose. Within three weeks, the lawnappeared to be considerably greener and it needed watering only twice aweek instead of the daily watering before treatment. Neighbors who werenot informed of the test began to inquire as to what had been done tothe lawn for the lawn was now growing much better than the neighborslawns. After four months time the lawn growth continued greatlystimulated. Another plot of lawn was treated using the oil-in-wateremulsion in which ammonium hydroxide constituted the alkaline agent,thereby to eliminate the need for separate application of fertilizer.Similar advantageous results were observed.

From the above, rough proportions for the several ingredients of theemulsions of this invention may be stated as being one partof organicacid emulsifier to about ten parts of the petroleum hydrocarbon oil forthe water-inoil emulsion, and in view of the relatively largeproportions of oil and of water, herein roughly considered to be aboutequal, in the oil-in-water emulsion, the proportions of the emulsifierand of the polymer may be considered as about three to one.

The term waterway as used in this specification and in the appendedclaims means surface canals, streams, ditches, lakes, ponds, andreservoirs for conveying and/ or storing surface water for industrial,domestic and agricultural purposes.

It will be understood that it is intended to cover all changes andmodifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for thepurpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from thespirit and scope of the lnvention.

What we claim is:

1. An oil-in-Water emulsion for treating the soil bed of a waterway,said emulsion comprising water, and in rough proportions about one partby weight of water soluble polymer salt, said polymer salt being alinear hydrocarbon chain polymer having a molecular weight greater than10,000 and containing carboxylic acid salt groups selected from the.group consisting of the alkali metal and ammonium salts in a ratio ofone carboxylic acid salt group to each two to six linear carbon atoms,about three parts by weight of an organic acid selected fro-m at leastone of the group consisting of C C fatty acids and rosin acids, aboutthirty parts by weight of petroleum hydrocarbon oil, and about one partby weight of an inorganic alkaline agent.

2. The emulsion of claim 1 wherein there are 48 to 60 parts by weight ofwater, 0.3 to 1.7 parts by weight of a water soluble polymer salt, 3 to5 parts by weight of an organic acid, 38 to 40 parts by weight ofpetroleum hydrocarbon oil, and 0.3 to 0.5 part by weight of an inorganicalkaline agent.

3. An oil-in-water emulsion for treating the soil bed of a waterway,said emulsion being prepared by a process comprising admixing 7 to 8parts by weight of an organic acid selected from at least one of thegroup consisting of C C fatty acids and rosin acids, with 84 to 87 partsby weight of petroleum hydrocarbon oil and neutralizing the resultantadmixture by admixing therewith a water solution containing 6 to 7 partsby weight of water and 0.8 to 0.9 part by weight of an alkaline agent toproduce -a water-in-oil emulsion, admixing about parts by weight ofwater with a measurable amount of less than about 3 parts by weight of awater soluble polymer salt, said polymer salt being a linear hydrocarbonchain polymer having a molecular weight greater than 10,000 andcontaining carboxylic acid salt groups selected from the groupconsisting of the alkali metal and ammonium salts in a ratio of onecarboxylic acid salt group to each two to six linear carbon atoms toproduce a polymer-water solution, adding about 7 parts by Weight of saidWaterin-oil emulsion to about 8 parts by weight of said polymer- Watersolution to produce said oil-in-Wate-r emulsion.

4. The composition of claim 1 in which said oil is selected from thegroup consisting of kerosene, diesel oil and lube stock, said organicacid is abictic acid, and said alkaline agent is sodium hydroxide.

5. The composition of claim 1 in Which said organic 'acid is tall oil.

6. The composition of claim 1 in which said polymer is sodiumpolyacryl-ate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,759,902 8/1956Glaudi-Magnussen et a1. 26027 3,016,713 1/1962 Deming 26029.6 3,055,8539/1962 Pickell 260-23 OTHER REFERENCES Kirk et a1.: Encyclopedia ofChemical Technology,

0 (1950), vol. 5, pages 692, 693, 701, 709.

LEON J, BERCOVITZ, Primary Examiner.

R. A. WHITE, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN OIL-IN-WATER EMULSION FOR TREATING THE SOIL BED OF A WATERWAY,SAID EMULSION COMPRISING WATER, AND IN ROUGH PROPORTIONS ABOUT ONE PARTBY WEIGHT OF WATER SOLUBLE POLYMER SALT, SAID POLYMER SALT BEING ALINEAR HYDROCARBON CHAIN POLYMER HAVING A MOLECULAR WEIGHT GREATER THAN10,000 AND CONTAINING CARBOXYLIC ACID SALT GROUPS SELECTED FROM THEGROUP CONSISTING OF THE ALKALI METAL AND AMMONIUM SALTS IN A RATIO OFONE CARBOXYLIC ACID SALT GROUP TO EACH TWO TO SIX LINEAR CARBON ATOMS,ABOUT THREE PARTS BY WEIGHT OF AN ORGANIC ACID SELECTED FROM AT LEASTONE OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF C16-C18 FATTY ACIDS AND ROSIN ACIDS,ABOUT THIRTY PARTS BY WEIGHT OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON OIL, AND ABOUT ONEPART BY WEIGHT OF AN INORGANIC ALKALINE AGENT.